The Tower — Tarot of the Absurd

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Jessica Rose ShanahanArtist: Jessica Rose Shanahan

 

TOWER OF BA’BEL
Entropy: this, too, shall crumble.

 

More words on the subject, from Genesis:
11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and few words.

 

Some called it the First Golden Age of Communication. Others called it Grunt-Grunt language.

 

11:4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

 

Or, perhaps they said, “Grunt, grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt, grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt, grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt, grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt grunt.”

 

And with plenty grunting, much hard work commenced. They started building a tower with bricks of baked clay and mortar of bitumen-tar. Thus began Man’s first attempt at global unity. The tower would be visible from far and wide. Lest Man become scattered, there would always be a beacon to call home.
But the Lord got wind of this. He came down to see the city and the tower.

 

11:6-7 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

 

Yes, God saw that when all Men work as one, there is nothing We cannot do. Was God intimidated by such a show of humane cooperation? He gathered His cronies and set out to cause confusion in order to limit Man’s powers. This was called “The Divine Department of Misinformation.”

 

11:8-9 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Ba’bel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

 

One way of viewing this is: Because God interrupted Man’s initial goal of unity with such forceful intent, world peace can never be attained.

 

Another way of viewing this is: Any power that attempts global domination and dominion is due to be remembered in history books for two things: (1) its construction and (2) its collapse.

 

The city’s name, by the way, was NOT Balal, meaning “to confuse,” but Bab-El, meaning “gate of God.” A third way of viewing this is: The gate of God crumbled, thereby proving that there is no great God, for any great God would have shown support for such greatness on the part of Man.

 

Possibilities will be argued until judgment day without resolve. But let it be known that no ill-will on the part of humanity is mentioned in the Bible. Sometimes, even the best intentions are doomed to failure.

 

But, O! Do not let memory of Bab-El preclude commencement of the plan. Work together. Communicate. Perhaps God wants us to show our dedication to Him through our actions and cooperations with one another.

 

God well noted, “this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” God did not say, “If they are successful at building the tower, it proves that nothing is impossible for them.” No. He placed no such limitations of Man’s ability. He confused the language so that we may not understand one another’s speech. This makes things quite difficult, yes. Persevere. If you are to believe in God, remember what God said first: “…nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

 

If you do not believe in God, remember the laws of entropy. The universe is a box of marbles. By nature, life forms organized patterns. By nature, structure crumbles.

Hierophant — TaRat (The Rat Tarot)

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Nakisha VanderHoevenArtist: Nakisha VanderHoven

 

This rat is a free-spirited Hierophant who dances with feathers in the wind.

 

The Hierophant is a person who brings his congregants into the presence of that which is holy: a guide who leads on the path of the spirit and opens the gateway to higher consciousness by means of ritual and surrender. He interprets sacred mysteries and arcane principles. In this manner, he brings the spiritual down to Earth and shows that holiness is not some arcane, obtuse, far-off thing.

 

The Hierophant teaches by word and by example. He leads rituals that remind his community of their shared beliefs and shared identity. His leadership brings tranquility to the chaos of life. In the presence of the Hierophant, the community blends together, unity is achieved amongst the diversity, and the inner-light of every individual burns bright— illuminated.

 

There is not just one Hierophant; there is one Hierophant for every community. The breakup of communities and individuation of society makes it difficult to find one’s own spiritual leader. In such situations, the Hierophant becomes inverted. Thus reversed, he stands for (or warns against) the staunch individualism that leads people to refuse to acknowledge the totality of their community. Byproducts of this mindset are: fear of that which is different, stubborn-mindedness, fear of change, institutionalization, propaganda, and fundamentalism.

 

18. Oisin — Tarocchi dei Celti

Sunday, March 4th, 2012

Antonio LupatelliArtist: Giordano Berti

 

This is a 22-card art deck produced by Lo Scarebo in 1991 as part of their “Tarocchi d’Arte” series. It was later made into a 78-card deck called “Tarot of the Druids.”

 

OisĂ­n was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland. His name means “young deer” or fawn, because his mother was a woman turned into a deer by a druid. When a hunter (his father) caught her but did not kill her, she regained her human form. As soon as the woman was pregnant with OisĂ­n, the druid turned her back into a deer and she returned to the wild. Seven years or many years after OisĂ­n was born, father and son were reunited. OisĂ­n’s mother apparently spent the rest of her life as a deer.

 

In OisĂ­n’s most famous adventure, he is visited by a fairy woman who announces she loves him and takes him away to “the land of the young.” The have two children in what seems to be three years, then OisĂ­n decides to return to Ireland. In truth, 300 years have passed. there. The fairy woman gives him a white horse and warns him not to dismount, because if his feet touch the ground the years will catch up with him and he will become old and withered. OisĂ­n returns home and finds everything he remembers abandoned and in disrepair. Later, while trying to help some men lift a stone onto a wagon, his girth breaks and he falls to the ground, becoming an old man. The horse returns to fairy land.

 

I am not certain what this card has to do with the moon, other than I pulled it from the deck at 2:30 in the morning when I could not sleep due to an earache. Although this deck is useful for a random exploration into Celtic mythology and has cute pictures, it is not useful in my endeavor to learn more about reading tarot. I will no longer use it for the purposes of this blog.

Temperance — Giovanni Vacchetta Tarot

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

Artist: Giovanni Vacchetta

 

After I finished the last illustration for my Tarot of the Absurd a few weeks ago, I started contemplating publishing options. I would really like to find a publishing company to help produce it well and help market it. I am interested in fine quality cards that will stand the test of time. Eventually there will be a book to go with it.

 

There is a print-on-demand game site on line called The Game Crafter, where people who like to make up games can find all sorts of game parts and design a game and have it printed for themselves and others to purchase and play. A few people have made tarot decks on poker-size cards. The site just started offering larger-size cards for tarot. In order to check out the quality and pricing, I re-produced an old historic deck originally illustrated in black & white by Giovanni Vacchetta in 1893. It has been in-&-out of print since then. I produced a sepia-toned copy with words in English. It is perfect for hand-coloring, should you be so inclined, and available for purchase here: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/giovanni-vacchetta-tarot

 

“What should I do about publishing my own deck?” I asked my new-old Giovanni Vacchetta tarot, and drew Temperance.

 

Favored: Balance, moderation, patience, purpose, meaning
Opposed: Imbalance, excess, lack of long-term vision

 

Temperance is about moderation and self-restraint. Balance, patience, and avoiding extremes— especially important in situations of stress or anxiety— all lead to a sense of calm and a place of peace. Walking the middle road— the way of tranquility— leads to an even temperament and a fulfilling life.

 

Temperance has a clear, long-term vision of what needs to be achieved. Refusing to rush along, Temperance takes its time to learn along the way. The way is peaceful, guided by an inner voice which cannot be heard amongst chaos.

 

Temperance works in harmony with others, combining forces in a beautiful synergy of talents, experiences, abilities and skills. Always needed during periods of transition, Temperance asks for patience to act with good timing and precision. Change is essential for learning and accomplishing anything. Temperance lets us know there is nothing to fear.

 

Temperance tells me: “Stick to your focus. Take time to work hard. You have spent 13 years illustrating your tarot deck. Do not rush into printing it without thorough research. Everything will come together beautifully in the end.”

Lovers — Twenty-Two Keys of the Tarot

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

Susan Kay TopaArtist: Susan Kay Topa

 

I like to keep my requests of the tarot deck simple. That way, the results are easier to interpret. It is when we request too much from tarot decks & life & such that things get confusing. So I said, “Give me peace—” not that I feel as if I am without peace— but just that peace is one thing we can always use more of. The deck showed me the Lovers.

 

The Lovers represent trust, harmony and divine union. Lovers are connected by Soul. This card does not necessarily represent a relationship between two people. The highest form of love is divine love. This manifests itself in as many ways as there are lovers of divinity.

 

Lovers of divinity know what they stand for. They are not the ones whose voices proclaim loudest their devotion to god— god defined here as the Lovers’ definition of divinity. Lovers are ones whose actions are truest to their beliefs. They are genuine.

 

I asked a good friend once why she believes in god. She said because all the people she admires most believed in god. Famously: Mohandas Ghandi; Mother Therisa; Albert Schweitzer; Martin Luther King, Jr.; His Holiness the Dali Lama. Not so famously, hundreds of others who lay low and do work behind which divine love is the driving force.

 

Despite numerous “holy” wars— despite “religious” countries rife with civil unrest— despite Joshua— true divine love is the abode of peace.

Twenty-Two Keys to the Tarot

15. The Devil — The Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

Yuri ShakovArtist: Yuri Shakov

[I was shuffling this deck & out fluttered the devil.]

Right-side-up: “Ravage, Bondage, Malevolence. Subservience. Downfall. Weird experience. Bad outside influence or advice. Black magic. Unexpected failure. Inability to realize goals. Violence. Shock. Fatality. Self-punishment. Temptation to evil. Self-destruction.”
Up-side-down: “Release from bondage. Throwing off shackles. Divorce. Recognition of one’s needs by another person. Overcoming severe handicaps. The beginning of spiritual understanding.”

 

“The Devil’s face resembles Josef Stalin, who ruled the U.S.S.R. for thirty years. His powerful body symbolized the intensity of his power, tattoos represent his power’s criminal nature, and bat wings symbolize its extent. The marshall’s star above him is the symbol of his victories, the horns show the devilish cunning with which he holds his winnings. The two eyes on his chest are the vigilance of the secret police. The Devil’s chains trap a man and a woman, deprived of civil rights.”

 

Ultimately, the Devil takes on a great amount of responsibility. It is those who have taken on the responsibility of excessive power who have the greatest tendency to be devil-like.

 

“With great power comes great responsibility,” said Uncle Ben to Peter Parker via Francois-Marie Arouet aka Voltaire, who was disturbed by the sickening abuse of authority and privilege by those in power whilst the poor and deprived starved and suffered around him. Not much has changed.

 

Voltaire wrote a lot in days when not as many people write when they do now (there were no bloggers in the 18th century) so it is quite possible someone else said it first and Voltaire was the first to write it down, ableit in French. He also wrote “The multitude of books is making us ignorant” somewhere in one of his over 20,000 letters and over 2,000 books and pamphlets.

 

I believe I have spent enough time reading. It is time, once again, to go outside the book and learn something on my own.

Two of Quills & The Magician — The Shakespeare Oracle

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

to be or not to beArtist: Cynthia von Buhler
Author: A. Bronwyn Llewellyn

 

Interpretation: “This card signifies vacillation between opposing points, weighing seemingly equal possibilities, procrastination, or struggling with a dilemma.”

 

Doing something one is used to doing is not so difficult. Being in a difficult situation and changing one’s habits is very hard for most of us mortals. It becomes easier as the situation becomes dire. The sort of yoga I do daily is no longer good for me. Most everything hurts. Thus, I no longer do yoga. Not doing yoga is not good for me. My request of this deck was, “Tell me to do yoga.” The deck tells me, “Find something good for your body and do that.” I need to learn something new. But where do I look? How do I begin?

shakespeare tarot

 

[I draw a second card.]

 

Interpretation: “The Magician is the communicator, creator, achiever, and shape-shifter. Drawing upon his wisdom and determination, he commands the forces of the universe and shapes them into a new reality. Originality and sheer willpower fuel his conjurations. […]”

 

The bard hath spoke!

Get off your arse and get to work.

Be not some dumb puppet—

be your own puppet’s puppeteer.

 

The Hermit — Tarot of the Absurd

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

[I have been in NY City for a few days. I had a wonderful time. I am now re-united with my computer and scanner.]

 

Artist: Jessica Shanahan

 

I love this image. You can click on it to make it bigger and see each individual hair in the Hermit’s beard.

 

This is how I make my pictures:

 

I spend anywhere from a few days to a few years trying to figure out what a card means to me.

 

I rack my brain for ideas on how to represent the meaning of the card using lovely curved lines and zero colors and two dimensions.

 

I draw a sketch in pencil on a piece of scrap paper. Again, this can take a very long time.

 

I scan the sketch into my computer and import it in Adobe Illustrator to use as a template for a vector graphics illustration.

 

I place points on the apexes of curves and pull vectors that approximate my hand-drawn curves. This takes one day or many, depending on the complexity of the image and how many times I edit it before it approaches completion.

 

Because one of my goals is to have as few points as possible, I go through a prolonged period of removing points that I have placed. I use no pre-formed “shapes” (squares, circles, stars, etc.) and, with few exceptions (see the hanged man), I do not cut&paste or re-use any of the images I have drawn. I am obsessive. However, my images are drawn by a human (me) and I want them to look that way. Another goal of mine is to reproduce the feeling of pen&ink.

 

Each image goes through a lengthy editing period— from a few days (rarely) to a few years (way too often)— before I say “enough!” and call it done. Many of the pictures have changed substantially since I began the deck. My style has become more refined and detailed. That is what happens when a project takes so long.

 

Because the pictures are drawn in vector graphics, the originals can be blown up infinitely large without losing definition. There are no pixels. Often times, when I am drawing an eyeball, it will take up my entire computer screen. That is how close I work.

 

The purpose of this blog is to gain a better understanding of the cards
that I might better be able to explain the images in my deck
and someday write a little book.

La Torre di Babele — La Corte dei Tarocchi

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Anna Maria D’OnofrioArtist: Anna Maria D’Onofrio

 

sudden upheaval—
plans disrupted—
surprise! crisis! chaos!

 

release! explosion! outburst!
eruption of anger—
crash through defenses—
break through pretenses—

let
every
thing
go.

fall down humbled.
crash.
topple from height.
fortune wrecked.
ego blown.

 

revelation— the truth—
a burst of insight

through illusions—

the answer—

—in a flash!

 

•

 

Architecture strives toward infinity; but more than any other art … remains bound to tangible materials. For this reason it cannot carry itself off into spheres of a transcendental world in which it metamorphoses into an idea. It remains … tied to the earth.

—Peter Behrens in Tilmann Buddensieg and Hennig Rogge, Industriekultur: Peter Behrens and the AEG, trans. I.B. White (1984), p. 223.

 

•

 

But who can give soul to an image, life to stone, metal, wood or wax? And who can make children of Abraham come out of stones? Truly this secret is not known to the thick-witted worker … and no one has such powers as he who has cohabited with the elements, vanquished nature, and mounted higher than the heavens, elevating himself above the angels to the archetype itself, with whom he then becomes co-operator and can do all things.

—Cornelius Agrippa, De occulta philosophia (1533) as quoted in Frances Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964, p. 136.

 

•

 

Who knows when some slight shock, disturbing the delicate balance between the social order and thirsty aspiration, shall send the skyscrapers in our cities toppling?

—Richard Wright, Native Son

 

•

 

The savaging sea piles its fears

on the shores of the world
:
no tower can deliver us now

from the enemy wave.

—Pablo Neruda, excerpted from “Bomb (II)” from Fin de mundo

Strength — Tarot of the Absurd

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Jessica Shanahan[Strength is one of the first cards I illustrated, back when I was drawing with black ink and a horsehair brush, living in a tiny cabin in Alaska, riding a bicycle everywhere I went. I have always been quite satisfied with her appearance.]

 

Right-side-up: Strength, courage, patience, control, compassion
Up-side-down: Weakness, self-doubt, lack of self-discipline

 

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and its plethora of clones, Strength is depicted as a women gently opening the jaws of a lion. The lion, a symbol of animal passion and desire, is sticking out his tongue, which he would not do if he was preparing to bite. This lion is happy to submit; the woman has successfully tamed the beast. This card is obviously not focused on pure physical strength. The woman overcomes the lion with a quiet, inner strength. When placed with its toothed mouth gaping between the women’s legs, the lion becomes a seductive reference to women’s power: the inner strength and perseverance needed to overcome oppression.

 

The lion’s position also becomes a subtle reference to the “vagina dentata,” a term which Sigmund Freud is often credited with coining. Literally, it means “female genitalia with teeth.” This image of the toothed vagina captured what Freud described (or experienced) as fear of castration, which he argued all boys (or men) feel upon first seeing female genitalia. Freud wrote:

“Probably no male human being is spared the terrifying shock of threatened castration at the sight of the female genitals.” (Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Trans. James Strachey, Basic Books: New York, 1962, p. 216.)

On the other end of the spectrum, Camille Paglia wrote in Sexual Personae:

“Metaphorically, every vagina has secret teeth, for the male exits as less than when he entered.” (p. 13)

 

In ancient civilizations, women do not only give life, they take it also. Dark Goddesses are both the manifestation of the warm, nurturing womb and the devouring gateway to the afterlife. The Norse Goddess Hel ruled over Helheim, whose gateway was a vagina. The Christians, who adopted Hel’s name into the after-world of Hell, often depicted Hell’s gateway lined with teeth and looking very much like female genitalia.

 

While Freud’s argument for the universality of this fear may seem ridiculous to most of us, the image is prevalent through world mythology. Various cultures have folk tales about women with toothed vaginas. These are possibly told as cautionary tales warning of the dangers of sex with strange women and to discourage the act of rape, tho the tales are more predominant in the more patriarchal societies— perhaps representing man’s fear of being conquered by what he seeks to oppress.